<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>My Heart Points To You by katherine1753</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28541424">My Heart Points To You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/katherine1753/pseuds/katherine1753'>katherine1753</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Jonathan Strange &amp; Mr Norrell (TV), Jonathan Strange &amp; Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:54:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,321</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28541424</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/katherine1753/pseuds/katherine1753</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>With Starecross Hall under preparations to become a school, Childermass finds himself inventing a new spell to help Segundus organize the new library. The spell will point to what one desires most, which is surely the book one is looking for, right?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>John Childermass/John Segundus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>JSAMN New Year's fanfiction exchange</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>My Heart Points To You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeautifulSoup/gifts">BeautifulSoup</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>for BeautifulSoup! I hope you like it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>If you had asked John Childermass five years ago, or even just a few months ago, if he thought he would ever be preparing to teach at a School For Magic, he would have laughed to himself and scoffed in your face. But, as it so happens, he would have been very wrong, for that is exactly where he found himself to be. Starecross Hall was being turned into a School For Magic at long last, led of course by the never-tiring Mr. Segundus and the ever-excited Mr. Honeyfoot. They had graciously, in Childermass’s opinion, quickly invited him to become a member of the staff, a teacher in the new school, and had subsequently roped him into helping with the preparations. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Starting a new school from scratch, for subjects never taught in schools before, was a much bigger undertaking than most people would suspect. Mr. Segundus and Mr. Honeyfoot had tackled much of the cleaning when they had transformed Starecross into the madhouse for Miss Emma Pole, but there were sections of the large manor that had remained untouched and needed some heavy work. They had been lucky with the weather in terms of getting the grounds under control, and Childermass had brought along the remainder of Mr. Norrell’s staff along with him so they had a cook and a few more able-bodied men to assist with things. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>All in all, as slowly as things were going, they were also going very well. John found himself very much at peace, enjoying being able to stay in one place, enjoying being treated as an equal and not a servant. He found his conversations with Mr. Segundus very enlightening, and the two of them had begun to plot out a curriculum for the students that they would hopefully be able to take in sometime within the year. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>One of the biggest obstacles, of course, had been study materials, as Mr. Norrell had done his absolute best to horde every single Book Of Magic that he could get his hands or mind on. There were a decent number of Books On Magic that could be found still, as they did not directly teach anything magical and just discussed history or theories, and Childermass, Honeyfoot, and Segundus had managed to track down many shelf-fulls of these. The generosity of Mr. Segundus’s patron was very much appreciated in these aspects, as Magical Books were not cheap. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In a spur of inspiration, Childermass had written to all of the remaining Societies of Magicians that he knew of, reminding them of Mr. Norrell and Mr. Strange’s disappearances, and informing them of the new English School For Magic being formed in York. He had pleaded with them for any and all books, references, notes, or even just quickly jotted half-remembered ideas that he could try to sort through. He informed them it would be for the good of English Magic. He was surprised with the level of response he had gotten. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And so that was how he found himself this evening, in a very messy library with empty shelves and a massive pile of books, papers, and parchments stacked precariously all over the floor. Mr. Segundus had insisted upon organizing the library as the books came in, so as not to be stuck with such a task, but other duties had come up and now that the influx of books had trickled down it was time to begin. Childermass, Segundus, and Honeyfoot had all contributed everything they could as well: Honeyfoot with a little stack of papers, Segundus with a tome of annotated notes and references and a mostly written manuscript about Jonathan Strange, and Childermass with shorthand notes with every spell that he could remember Norrell allowing him to see. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The size of their collection was impressive; it would be a wonderful start for the students (and the staff as well), providing at least a few years worth of study. The problem was, however, that they needed to get it all organized before any real curriculum planning could begin. There were also many spells that would be very useful in the setting up and construction of a school, but the donated books ranged in levels of completeness and was difficult to remember what spell was where, in entirety, or just referenced or mentioned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Childermass had come up with a solution: a new spell, altered from others he had used (a very Strangeite approach, he decided). It would be similar to some spells used with a basin, made smaller to find something that you desire within a short distance. It would be accurate for close-up things, such as finding a certain book in a stack in a messy library, or finding a small lost object. If it was done correctly, he hoped that the spell would be able to point out the correct book even if one didn’t remember the title, just the needed content. While he hadn’t been able to alter the spell to show the book directly within the basin itself, a small stick in the water would spin like a compass and point in the right direction, towards the thing that you wanted most.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Childermass had finished writing the spell, he had mentioned it to Mr. Segundus as they sat in the messy library, half-hidden from each other behind the towering stacks of books. Mr. Segundus, of course, was more than thrilled at the idea of such a spell and even more excited to see it in action. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They decided to start with a book that they both knew of, to test it out: Jonathan Strange’s book. Childermass let Segundus try the spell first, as he was nearly buzzing out of his skin with excitement. Segundus’s eyes drifted shut as he thought deeply of the book, his pale hands resting atop the edges of the basin. Childermass found it hard to draw his eyes away from Segundus’s face to look at the spinning twig in the basin. He smiled to himself; his spell was working. When Segundus once again opened his eyes, he was delighted to see the spell working as well and let out a little happy gasp. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The stick stopped spinning, pointing directly at Childermass. John froze, a slight frown forming on his face, but Segundus didn’t seem to notice as he jumped up and scrambled past Childermass to the stack of books behind him. After a few moments of digging around, Segundus successfully located the book, a little off to the side of where the arrow had pointed him. Perhaps the spell hadn’t been quite as accurate, or perhaps there were too many similar books around to throw off the magic...Childermass wasn’t sure. But they would have to keep testing the spell, both because spells needed to be tested to be perfected and because they could truly use such a thing to help with the organization. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Segundus returned to the basin to try it again, Childermass shuffled slightly to the left. The stick stopped spinning pointing directly at him once again. A brief moment of eye contact with Segundus saw the man’s cheeks pinken as he hesitated before stepping around Childermass again in search of the next book. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mr. Segundus...do you think perhaps the magic is being overwhelmed with too many similar books all nearby?” he asked as Segundus dug through the stack behind him once more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Segundus startled. “Oh. Perhaps? That might possibly explain why this book was also off to the side a bit. Or I might not be doing it exactly right. I’m sure with practice I will get better!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Childermass paused. “You are doing everything correctly,” he mentioned. “I suppose once there are fewer books to dig through it might be more accurate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmmm,” Segundus agreed, eagerly returning to the basin in search of another book. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But the process continued, with books very close to Childermass each time. One behind him, one next to him, one underneath his left elbow. And the more this went on, the more John began to think that perhaps, there was nothing actually wrong with the spell. Perhaps it was picking up some other desire, stronger than that of the book Segundus was looking for. He had noticed the man’s gaze lingering on him more often than not lately, and he was very much guilty of returning the gesture. They’d skirted around the conversation a few times, content to spend time together working through problems for the school and discussing magic late into the evenings. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the tenth book directly in Childermass’s vicinity, he was beginning to guess that his suspicions were correct. But what to do about it? With each found book, Segundus had stacked them in their new permanent home upon their shelf. The next book found, Childermass offered to shelve it so that Segundus could continue searching. This would also put John further across the room and he would be able to tell if the stick was pointing at him instead of the books as the only books near him now would be ones that were already accounted for. Unfortunately, he could not see the stick from that far across the room. He would have to try something else. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But what Childermass didn’t see, as he walked away with the book in hand, and Segundus turned to the next stack, was that the arrow continued to move in the basin, following him across the room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another round of the spell found Childermass perched on the desk instead, closer to the basin but more out of the way of the books. The stick pointed in his direction once more. It had to be pointing at him, didn’t it? He chewed at one of his nails in thought as Segundus approached the desk, definitely pinker than before. Even if the spell wasn’t pointing to him after all, he highly suspected that Segundus thought it was as well. Segundus looked at him a moment, then looked at the desk, a bit of panic on his face. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Segundus definitely suspected the arrow of pointing at Childermass. John’s lips twitched up into a tiny smirk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, well, I suppose I...did need these notes…” Segundus mumbled, taking a stack of papers off of the desk. “That wasn’t exactly what I was looking for…” he trailed off with a frown. “Oh! But it’s fine! The spell is wonderful, Mr. Childermass, I’m sure it’s just me, I’m-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re doing the spell correctly, Mr. Segundus,” Childermass said again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Segundus blushed and turned away to shuffle the papers into place. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>John tried to make it more obvious. He knew he was right, he knew Segundus was right, he just needed the man to come upon the proof himself. He scooted the other papers further away from him on the desk while Segundus was busy, and nonchalantly crossed his arms back where they were as Segundus turned back around. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The next time that Segundus did the spell, the stick, as expected, pointed straight at Childermass. He tried to school his features into something neutral as Segundus approached him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I...I suppose a candle would be very useful right now?” Segundus said quietly, a very fetching shade of red, as he reached around John for the one item left on the desk in his immediate vicinity. Childermass just resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It would be in a fond way, but he didn’t think it would help in this case. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mr. Segundus,” he began, trying to gently coax the admission out of him. “Do you think that, perhaps,-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Perhaps,” Segundus answered, distracted, rushing back to the basin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>John followed him, putting a hand over his before he could start the spell. Segundus’s hand twitched under his own, pulse jumping where his fingers grazed his wrist, but it did not pull away. Childermass performed the spell this time, and, as he expected, the stick pointed at Segundus. He didn’t need the spell to know, but he wanted the other man to see his intentions and proof of his returned feelings. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh!” Segundus looked very flustered before turning to the slowly diminishing stack of books behind him. “Which...which book were you looking for?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>John</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Childermass tried. “What I want most isn’t a book. And I think what you want most isn’t a book, either.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Segundus made a sort of squeak of a noise, looking rather embarrassed, and his hands twisted in front of him. Childermass very much wanted to hold those hands again. “Perhaps, as I said, I’ve been doing it wrong, and-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve done everything right. You are an excellent magician.” Segundus’s blush deepened at the praise. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I don’t...I…” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>John let him fret for a moment before taking pity on him. “Mr. Segundus. John. It seems...that what you most desire, is, in fact, me,” he said gently, trying not to let any other feelings creep through in his voice yet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh!” Segundus gasped, a bit frightened and a bit anticipatory. “Mr. Childermass! I-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And if you looked when I did the spell, you’d see that I feel the same way,” he interrupted before Segundus could start apologizing or trying to reason with the logic of the spell. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A weak little laugh escaped him as he looked back at Childermass carefully. “I believe...I believe you may be right,” he admitted softly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Childermass’s lips quirked up into a small smile. “Quite possibly so,” he agreed. He watched as John approached him, stepping closer carefully as he was still trying to accept that his feelings were returned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“May I...may I kiss you?” Segundus asked shyly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please,” John smiled fondly, closing the gap between them. His hands came up to cup Segundus’s cheek gently and then those soft lips were pressed against his own. The arrow in the basin began to spin restlessly. They would have to find a new way to organize the books, perhaps, especially with this added but very welcome distraction. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>